The Rite of Spring

Today The Rite of Spring is regarded as a revolutionary piece of music and choreograph. Its choreographer, Vaslav Nijinsky, was born in 1889. He started his dance career after he joined the Imperial Ballet School in 1900, in which he studied under Enrico Cecchetti and Nicholas Legat. He took many lead roles until his dance career took a turning point, and met Sergei Diaghilev. He danced with famous Anna Pavlova, as a lead in the Ballets Russes in Paris, and also starred in Fokine's pieces "Le Pavillon d'Armide," "Cleopatra," and "The Feast." He then went on to choreograph his own ballets, such as "L’Aprés-Midi d'un Faune" (The Afternoon of a Faun) and "The Rite of Spring" ("Russian Ballet History"). Most of Nijinsky's works were created far before the time they could be appreciated. The Rite of Spring, however, led to modern dance. The music in this dance was composed by Igor Stravinsky, which also played a revolutionary role in modern dance (Anderson).

The Rite of Spring referred as "Pictures of Pagan Russia" was first preformed on May 29, 1913 at the Theater des Champs-Elysees located in Paris. Most, if not all ballets, during this era consisted of mystical and fantasy like moves and story lines. Previous choreographs were composed of beautiful ballerinas which usually represented a mystical creature, such as Swan Lake. A girl played the role of a beautiful swan. The ballerina danced with beautiful grace in what is today known as classical ballet. The arms are beautifully kept up with minimal movement while the legs do most of the work, both lightly jumping and gracefully coming down. Beautiful twirls in which most of the time the dancers look as if they’re never on the ground. In these classical ballets, in which people were accustomed too, never had a story line that did not end happily. The Rite of Spring, however, goes a complete different direction. This dance is about the celebration and welcoming of spring with the sacrifice of a young lady.

From the very beginning of the dance of The Rite of Spring, I had no idea what to expect. The dance is divided into two different acts, the first being "The Adoration of the Earth." As the curtain rises it reveals men and women in separate groups, which makes great use of the stage because it is used up entirely, yet still leaving enough room for the dancers to move freely. Their surroundings and costumes are primitive, and there is an automatic dark eerie mood set. The dances are very light hearted. This is apparent from the very beginning of this piece, an elderly man is frozen as the music plays. He eventually dances toward the different groups of dancers on stage. Besides the loud thuds that the dancers make with their feet, the dancers gracefully move around the stage. A group of girls dressed in red, are in a vertical line across the stage and they dance on their toes slightly moving their head back and forth, as they bring their legs up to their knees. A second group joins them gracefully. As the music becomes more aggressive so do their movements. For example, as the powerful dark drumbeats take over in the music, the dancers moves are a lot faster and more articulated than previously. This is defined in the part where the dancers are actually having contact with each other. They give the impression that the men are fighting. Meanwhile, some women are cautiously watching from the ground swaying side to side and the quickly jump up which shows the panic and stress within them. A wise old man enters the stage all the dancers freeze, which gives of the impression that he is there to create peace, however, the scene becomes more chaotic. An example of this would be when the men throw themselves on the floor, rise, and repeat it. They then dance around him with their hand up in the air with pointed pigeon feet at all times. This act ends as the dancers surround the old...

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...Dance Critique: The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky, a Russian dancer and choreographer. He joined The Imperial School of Ballet in 1900 and was later the lead dancer of the Ballet Russes. He eventually choreographed many works, one of them being Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) in 1913. He “exceeded the limits of traditional ballet” and the Rite was an example of this. In 1919 he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent the rest of his life in and out of hospitals until he died in London on April 8, 1950. The Rite of Spring was performed by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes on May 29th, 1913 at the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris. It was later remade by the Joffrey Ballet in Los Angeles on September 30, 1987. Igor Stravinsky was the composer for The Rite of Spring. In his works for the Rite there was a significant basis of Russian and Lithuanian folk music. His music has influenced many of the 20th century composers and the idea that the Rite portrayed was inspired by Pagan Russia. The Rite of Spring became one of the first pieces of work that led to modern dance.
The Rite of Spring had two acts, the first was called The Adoration of the Earth and the second was The...

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The research for this paper was based off a question that came to, while re-visiting the history and celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of Vaslav Nijinsky’s creation of Le Sacre du Printemps, The Right of Spring that premiered in 1913. This question in mind has many dimensions when asked, to compare the relationship between the costumes of Nijinsky’s The Right of Spring and Pina Bausch interpretation of the score. When researching both ballets in relationship to the costumes that were represented in each version it becomes unclear of the real reasons behind the choices that Nijinsky and Bausch made to develop the style, design and visual effect of the costumes; Questioning whether there was a specific initial inspiration for the designs or perhaps it was the style in the time period when both individual ballets premiered and was influenced by fashion and society.
Beginning to study where it all began in the early 1900’s with Nijinsky’s development of The Right of Spring the focus is on the involvement of individuals who took part in the creation and development process of the original costumes. This can be narrowed down to Nicholas Roerich as the designer, Igor Stravinsky who potentially provided inspiration for Roerich’s designs and finally Nijinsky himself. To look at and discover how Roerich was inspired and where the root of his designs developed from other than Nijinsky’s vision, if any, brings this...

...Igor Stravinsky’s
Rite of Spring
-MUS 337
-Emily Costin
In the early 20th century, many composers were beginning to not be so pleased with the status quo of what Romanticism had set for them. Composers such as Arnold Schoenberg and Claude Debussy began to experiment with new ways or writing music. They began to experiment with new sounds, textures, idea’s, compositional techniques, etc. They, as well as other composers, reached success in their own ways, yet the world of music was still set in their generally Romantic ways. It took a true compositional giant to rock the world of music forever, and such a piece of music came on May 23rd, 1913 with Igor Stravinsky’s strikingly famous ballet The Rite of Spring. The ballet premiered in Paris, and the performances primitive dance moves, dark music, and somewhat scary demeanor sent the audience into a full blown riot, and simultaneously into a whole new era of music. The Rite of Spring is undoubtedly one of the literary masterpieces that shifted classical music from the Romantic style into what we now consider the Modern style.
Igor Stravinsky was born in Jume of 1886 in Oranienbaum, Russia. Stravinsky grew up n a musical household, his father being one of the leading basses of his day. Being surrounded by music at a young age, he started piano lessons at age nine, yet he was...

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Music History
Research Paper on Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring
I. Introduction
A. The music and choreography of the premiere Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring on the 29th of May 1913, in Paris, France changed the form and sentiments of ballet by challenging conventional expectations of the past, transforming the work into the acclaimed masterpiece and milestone in ballet it is today.
II. Stravinsky- brief background of life up until the premiere of The Rite of Spring
A. Birth and Life in Russian Empire
1. Family
2. Musical Influences
a) Mussorgsky
b) Rimsky-Korsakov
c) Glazunov
d) Wagner
3. Law school and Nikolai Rimsky-Korskov
4. First orchestral works and Commission by Diaghilev
a) Firebird, first ballet score
B. Life in Switzerland
1. Begins composition on The Rite of Spring
III. Analysis of Rite of Spring
A. Musical fragments
1. Jarring
2. Dissonant
3. Difficult
B. Compelling rhythms
1. To provide a structure to drive the dramatic action
2. Frees harmonic gears
C. Things that weren’t supposed to be
1. bassoon bleats at the beginning
a) higher than it should ever go
2. Percussion
a) pounded out primitive rhythms
D. Structure
E. Ballet
1. Conventional form and expectations
2. The changes made and why
3. Where it is today
a) Original Choreography was lost
b) Original costuming found, and used...

...The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring is a ballet/orchestral piece composed by Igor Stravinsky and choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky. Premiering on May 29th, 1913, at the Théatre des Champs-Elysées, The Rite of Spring was one of the most controversial and scandalous scores in the history of music and dance. Featuring elements of pagan sacrifice, outrageous costumes, and strange choreography, the performance started a riot in the audience and as a result, the choreography was never played along with the original music composition. While the latter has been played numerous times as a stand-alone orchestral piece, the dance hasn’t been as popular as time went on. It was however, recreated by several contemporary choreographers, namely Millicent Hodson, Maurice Bejart, Pina Bausch.
After watching all three choreographies of the ballet, I felt that Millicent Hosdon’s rendition provided the best relationship between the dance and the music. I believe that music played along with dance can really enhance the performance of each. Alone, each one my sound or look good, but if they are effectively combined, it is quite a sight to behold. I felt that Hodson achieved just that in his version. Throughout the performance, I felt that the dancers really moved their bodies in a way that complimented the ups and downs of the musical score very effectively. I noticed from the 3:00 minute mark to about...

...﻿
Summary: The movie takes place in Paris in 1913 and the 20th century. Igor Stravinsky’s on of Europe’s new composers. His ballet The Rite of Spring is about to make its premiere as we learned in class is the music is not liked by everyone to some people it is too modern and is a very controversial. There was one listener that liked the performance and that was Coco Chanel who was a well known fashion designer. She wore a beautiful white dress to the ballet. Now it 1920 and Igor Stravinsky has moved to Paris because of a war in Russia. Coco business has taken off but she is mourning the death of a friend so when she meets Igor and they are instantly connected to each other and she invited Igor, his very sick wife and their children to live with her. Coco and Igor do have an affair but it ended after awhile. The last scene of the movie show that Igor The Rite of Spring has because loved ballet and is now a masterpiece.
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...The Rite Of Spring.
The Rite Of Spring is broken into two parts, the Adoration of The Earth and The Sacrafice. Each part is then broken up into movements which are chapters in the story of a sacrificial rite where a young girl dances herself to death. These movements do not have a strict form, but definite changes in mood can be observed, for example; the piece opens with a peaceful bassoon solo based on a folk melody, but it lasts for no longer than thirteen bars before darker themes are presented.
The piece has been composed for a very large orchestra. The orchestra size is almost double the average, including extra instruments such as four bassoons. Most parts are doubled, but sometimes all the instruments have been given different parts, which leads to a very thick texture. This texture is thickened by polyphony and polytonality, creating intense and chaotic moments of climax. The tone for the folk-like melodies is sweet and soft, as a folk tune would be, but the tone used in the faster and more chaotic sections is often very harsh. The harshness is aided by cluster chords and dissonance [see trumpet parts, figure 16 + 4 bars]. Stravinsky does not conform to one key, he uses polytonality, Atonality, dissonance and chromaticism in The Rite of Spring, all of which have extreme qualities that are not always pleasing to listen to. In the folk-influenced sections the melody...

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Pina Bausch's "Rite of Spring"
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